The invention relates generally to a shipping device for commodities.
More particularly, the invention relates to a shipping device for suspended commodities, e.g., piece goods.
Systems for the transport of suspended commodities have a rail which is located in a transport plane above a working surface, especially at or near a ceiling or roof. Such systems further include a plurality of carriages which can be shifted along the rail.
The carriages can be constituted by a support which, for instance, is composed of simple rod-like elements. The supports are equipped with wheels or rollers arranged to roll along the rail. Load carriers, e.g., baskets, platforms and the like, which accommodate the goods to be transported can be suspended from the carriages. Alternatively, the goods can be directly suspended from the rod-like elements. In this manner, the goods can be easily and compactly transferred from one working location to another.
Carriages of the above type are widely used inside plants to move goods from storage to a working location and also between working locations.
Static, dual iron beams known as "clothing sets" have been used for many years in the delivery of clothes from manufacturer or seller to final distributor. The sets are loaded at the supplier, provided with the relevant documents and transferred to the supplier's own transporter or to an external transporter for shipment to the buyer, i.e., the distributor or wholesaler, inside or outside of the country.
Depending upon distance, distribution network and whether the final buyer or the wholesaler is inside or outside of the country, the sets are conveyed, combined, classified, sorted and temporarily stored by the transporter in a smaller or larger number of stages at consolidation, sorting and distribution centers. In most cases, these operations are performed by hand. Labor expenses are thus very high, particularly because the sets hang during the various stages and are taken down and suspended manually. For transport, moreover, the sets are assembled on suspended or travelling carriages, e.g., carriages for elevated rails as described in the European patent application no. 0 308 582, which leads to additional sorting and distribution labor.
Furthermore, each set or group of sets must be provided with an address, a delivery certificate and, if necessary, customs documents.
Another drawback of the sets is that they take up a large amount of space during transport in motor vehicles when the clothes are left on the sets. Thus, significant loading capacity is lost in the vertical direction.
The clothes may be combined into bundles for shipment without the sets. Although less space is taken up during transport, these bundles also require documents. Furthermore, the bundles must again undergo consolidation and/or distribution in appropriate centers and, upon transfer from one stage to another, are removed from one carriage and suspended on a new carriage by hand. This procedure is even more labor-intensive than that with the sets.
Sets do simplify handling somewhat. However, as already mentioned, when the goods remain on the sets during transport, a disproportionately and unnecessarily large amount of space is required for transport. Additional drawbacks of sets, as well as drawbacks associated with bundles, are as follows:
At each operating stage of the generally long distance from manufacturer or seller to final distributor, the goods must be provided with new identification in order to proceed to the next stage. This creates a large expense and sometimes results in a loss of time.
Moreover, the sets and the bundles of individual clothing items, as well as the accessories and organization required for the same, are not suited for automation so that the advantages of automation cannot be achieved.
The following further drawbacks are caused by the repeated manual manipulations during transfer, sorting and identification of the goods: time delays, improper disposition, theft and losses, increased costs and a possible need for additional carriages.